Historical News and Views from the Empire State

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About Louise Bernikow

Louise Bernikow, author of 9 books and a former Fulbright fellow, has been speaking on the suffrage movement in New York City on various campuses, including P.S. 10 in Brooklyn, where fourth graders loved the horses in the parade pictures.

Currently a Fellow at the Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, she is writing a book about suffrage and the city.

The anniversary of the New York victory for woman suffrage (1917-2017) in the not too distant future is prompting proud talk of our state as “the cradle of women’s rights,” which is true enough but only half the story. The phrase refers specifically to the revolutionary movement that began in the small northern town of Seneca Falls in 1848 and was propelled by visionaries like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Frederick Douglass.

That early movement was “cradled,” as in “nourished in its infancy,” by geography. Cities and towns like Rochester and Seneca Falls were the “north star” of the Underground Railroad, places packed with Abolitionists and Quakers and radicals of all stripes. The population nurtured the young women’s movement and provided a base from which its standard-bearers could venture forth to persuade the rest of the nation. Continue reading →

There’s going to be dancing in the streets of New York City next winter!

Gotham will host a Super Bowl, putting the city in the same big boys league as Dallas and Miami. As Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced, the grand spectacle is coming off after many years of planning by knowledgeable gentlemen with their eyes on hoopla and tourist dollars. Continue reading →